Blog Page

by David Winfield

Founder, Independent Schools Portal.

For the last 18 months, the Independent Schools Portal have been delivering FREE CPD and networking events for across the North of England and North Wales. As our team has grown, we are now rolling these out across the UK and internationally for Governors, Bursars, Headteachers, Deputy Headteachers and Subject leaders - but what do they entail? And how do you begin working with the Independent Schools Portal in the first place? The event that we held at the Grammar School at Leeds on the 23rd November 2017 offers a great illustration.

What is the Independent Schools Portal?

The Independent Schools Portal evolved out of a desire for closer collaboration at an operational level between northern English and Welsh Prep schools. Improving collaboration and helping schools to network remains our key mission, and we now support over 1200 schools worldwide (including 300 from the maintained sector). In addition to this, we are also beginning to actively support schools by providing services, either free of charge, or at a heavily discounted price.

How can you offer high-quality CPD and networking meetings for free?

Because of the unique way that we are funded. After the initial grant from the schools to develop the portal, we have consistently worked with high-quality commercial partners who promote their brand whilst at the same time helping us to provide support with the everyday challenges schools face. In the case of CPD and Networking events, this means that we can deliver high-quality meetings at no-cost to either the delegates or host school, and we are able to bring in fantastic speakers and specialists. At no cost.

Case study: Deputy and Assistant Heads network meeting, Grammar School at Leeds, 23rd November 2017. Before the event.

We had been contacted by a number of Deputy and Assistant Headteachers in the Yorkshire and Humber area who wished to revive what had previously been a strong network, but had recently withered due to Deputy Heads developing and moving on with their careers.

Before we could relaunch this network, we needed a venue, and so we contacted the Emma Cox and Tom Weaver, both Assistant Headteachers at the Grammar School at Leeds, as a potentially suitable and central venue.

The aim of this meeting was to outline and explain how we would deliver the initial event and re-energise the network, fix a date, run through the catering and space requirements, and understand their expectations from the day. We also discussed and agreed agenda items and explained how and why there would be no cost to hosting the event.

During this initial phase, we contacted all of the other Deputy Heads in the area, created the contact database, put together and shared the agenda, kept track of the attendees and their requirements, whilst keeping everyone informed. We also arranged and paid for the speakers to deliver the specialist sessions, as well as taking care of their travel and accommodation expenses.

On the day

We jointly prepared the delegate packs with the school (although this is something we normally do, the school wished to be involved with this on this occasion) and we provided plenty of staff to direct and support the delegates during the day. Almost all of our team are former school senior leaders, and are DBS cleared.

Before we began with the scheduled itinerary for the day, there was meet and greet over coffee and biscuits before the formal introductions from Tom and Emma, the Portal and the head of the Senior School, Sue Woodroofe.

Testimonial: Tom Weaver, Assistant Head of Juniors, Grammar School at Leeds.

Grammar School at Leeds

​"I have to admit to shying away from the initial invitation to host a DH meeting. The thought of organising something like this on top of the day to day role, concerned me greatly. However, once we spoke to David and he explained how the day would work and the role of his colleagues, it became apparent that this was something that could happen by working together, with David and the team taking on the majority of the workload.’

David and his colleagues worked closely with us to ensure all the organisational logistics were in place and provided us with a bespoke itinerary, offering advice and expertise to ensure the day ran smoothly.

When organising something like a conference, there is always a nagging doubt that other delegates might not enjoy or wholly engage in the content. David sourced speakers whose expertise provided a great learning experience for us all.

When the delegates make a point of coming up to you and thanking you for an interesting and useful day, you know you got it right."

Session 1: Wellbeing

During our initial discussions with the school, and other Deputy Headteachers from the region, we identified that staff wellbeing and maintaining a wellbeing culture in schools was a topic of great interest. As a result, we decided to invite Ruth Farenga, a highly-regarded specialist in this field to lead the first session.

Before Ruth began her wellbeing session

A short break-out during Ruth's session

Session 2: Education Hub

After a short break with refreshments, we launched into the second session of the day, the Education Hub. During this session, the Deputy Heads got the chance the speak directly with 12 innovative companies in the education space, as well as benefit from a 'career clinic' with the fantastic education recruitment specialist, Monika Fryzicka. This session provided a superb opportunity for colleagues to collect lots of takeaway ideas with which to take back to colleagues in school.

Session 3: Deputy and Assistant Heads' Discussion

During this session, the Deputy and Assistant Heads discussed areas of common interest and concern, and shared ideas and experiences. The ISP took the minutes, to be shared across the whole network, including with Deputy and Assistant Heads who were not able to attend on this occasion.

Session 4: Taking learning outside of the classroom

During the final session, outdoor learning specialist, Mike Hargreaves, led an extended activity to inspire and offer practical advice in equal measure.

The final wrap

After the final session, we carried out all of the feedback and collated the data. We also surveyed colleagues during the day and found out what they would like to see in subsequent meetings (future requested sessions include 'having difficult conversations' and 'conflict resolution'). The next Yorkshire and Humber Deputy Heads meeting will take place on the 21st March 2018, also at GSaL, and from there it will rotate around the region to schools who wish to host. All of the coordination and organisation will be undertaken by the Portal, again at no cost.

I would like my school to become involved!

We currently organise meetings for Governors, Bursars, Heads, Deputy and Assistant Heads and Subject Leads. We have announced spring meetings in the North West and North East, and we will shortly be announcing meetings in the East and West Midlands, Kent and Berkshire. If you are interested in attending - or hosting - an event in your area, just drop me an email.

​We currently organise breakfast, morning, afternoon and all day meetings - we are completely flexible and tailor them to your individual requirements.

​If you already run regular network meetings, for example, district association Headteacher meetings - we are able to pay for all of your catering costs and provide a significant budget for high-quality specialist speakers. Again, just get in touch and we'll talk you through the opportunities.

A few thank yous...

We'd like to thank the following companies who kindly supported this Yorkshire and Humber Deputy and Assistant Heads' network event at GSaL, making it possible for whole meeting - including the high-quality CPD - to be provided free of charge: